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Sadowsky strings: black label vs blue label

#61
One word of caution on colored/coated strings. Most of the ones I have encountered are non-conductive. That means that the strings defeat the purpose of having a string ground via the bridge. That translates into hum that does not go away when you touch your strings. Just something to be aware of and to listen for if you like colored or coated strings.

Roger
 
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#62
Sadowsky said:
One word of caution on colored/coated strings. Most of the ones I have encountered are non-conductive. That means that the strings defeat the purpose of having a string ground via the bridge. That translates into hum that does not go away when you touch your strings. Just something to be aware of and to listen for if you like colored or coated strings.

Roger
Click to expand...


and all this time i thought it was just me... huh.
 
#63
I received my two sets of nickel strings. Thank you Roger. It will take me some time to get some real miles on things given that the band (classic rock / old country covers) is in hybernation as we struggle with things like real life distractions and no where to practice.

But I have strung up the Nickel Blues (45-65-85-105-130T) on my RV5. They required a bit of a truss rod tweak / saddle adjustment . They are higher tension than the TI SAs that they replaced (45-65-80-100-125).

Initial impression in the basement were very favorable. The B string kicks. Much better than the TI SA which is a weakness of that set IMHO. This B string is better than I recall an OLD Black Sadowsky Nickel 125T that I tried a couple years back. In fact I was not impressed with the 40-60-80-100-125T OLD Black Nickel set I tried two years ago. This set was kinda dark and thin and the alder / rosewood RV5 just did not project well with these IMHO.

I then went and practiced with a band in a horribly crowded basement with bad acoustics. But I have done a lot of playing here so I can do relative comparision. The Nickel Blues matched the RV5 very well and sat in the mix like a bright set of Nickels should. Compared to my standard DA XLs (45-65-80-100-130), the Blues have an equal amount of high end, but less harsh. The Blues have a more defined tigher bottom end than the XLs I am used too. Compared to the TI SAs, the Blues do not have the low mid hump that to me define the TI SAs. But this makes the TI SAs a sort of a one sound string. To me, the Nickel Blues are a full frequency string with extended, pleasant highes that are nicely exaggerated with a bit of Sadowsky preamp Treble boost.

Back to the basement, the Blues slap very well. I am not much of a slapper, but I have yet to find a set of Nickels that slap really well on the RV5 (steel is where to go for slapping on an RV5 IMHO). But the Nickels had a nice clean pop on the higher strings and a tight focus on the lower strings. The B even slapped well.

To my ears I do not hear a mid scoop on these strings. I have a P bass with GHS Boomers on it right now and to me these are mid scooped sounding strings. So using that as a reference, the Nickel Blues do not sound mid scooped. My other reference for a mid scooped string is DA Pro Steels. I always give a boost at 800Hz on my EBS HD-350 (bass flat, treble flat, bright at 0, Drive at 9) rig with an Aguilar GS112 and a Avatar B210Neo. To my ears I need this 800 Hz boost to sound flat. I think it is my rig.

In short, I would summarizes the Nickel Blues as a bright Nickel string that gets you a bit of steel brightness while still retaining the feel and overall characterisitic tone of a good nickel round wound string. Review of the NEW Blacks will be coming.
 
#64
I never did mention that I did receive the strings, but I did, and only a couple of days after Roger offered. I definitely want to thank Roger for allowing me the opportunity to demo and review these strings.

However, I do want to mention that my review won't be as fast as the rest of these guys likely. I asked for 5 string sets from Roger, and I currently don't have a 5 string bass. I am awaiting completion of my Nordstrand Nordy vJ5. Once that is in my hands, I will get to try these strings out. Keep in mind however that that won't be for a couple of months as I am still about 4 weeks away from getting the bass, and even then I would like to play the bass for a little while with the DR Fat Beams that I requested strung on the bass (currently my favorite strings for slap/funk style bass). Once I wear those out, I will start my Sadowsky string reviews.
 
#66
Cool, xgabriele, cool :eek::smug:

I'm looking forward to everyone's review. So far it seems I'll like the Blue Labels more than the Blacks which I always loved.

Roger, can you confirm a lower string tension on the Blue Labels?

Tony G said:
I never did mention that I did receive the strings, but I did, and only a couple of days after Roger offered. I definitely want to thank Roger for allowing me the opportunity to demo and review these strings.

However, I do want to mention that my review won't be as fast as the rest of these guys likely. I asked for 5 string sets from Roger, and I currently don't have a 5 string bass. I am awaiting completion of my Nordstrand Nordy vJ5. Once that is in my hands, I will get to try these strings out. Keep in mind however that that won't be for a couple of months as I am still about 4 weeks away from getting the bass, and even then I would like to play the bass for a little while with the DR Fat Beams that I requested strung on the bass (currently my favorite strings for slap/funk style bass). Once I wear those out, I will start my Sadowsky string reviews.
Click to expand...
 
#68
Update on mine as well. I was surprised that I actually got the strings in the mail (the internet being well, the internet) but because it's Sadowsky it actually happened, so a big thank you for the strings. Initial impressions: I just strung up the blues on my Spector 5 String Rebop and they're what I'm looking for in a nickel string. The last set I had on was flat/dead and too low tension for my taste. I play fairly aggressively compared with the rest of my musical genre (ska) and go for a modern tone akin to the guy from the Toasters (listen to the studio version of 'don't let the bastards grind you down,' it's fantastic for bass) so it's supposed to be midrange heavy, which I thought might conflict with the scooped quality the blues were supposed to have. They are a slight bit scooped in the mids (funny how the bass makes a difference compared to the other post) but this was easily compensated for by slightly EQ'ing on the head. Tension was medium-high which is great for me, I felt like I could slap them too if I was into it, easily enough high end to mimic the steel zing.

For my application (modern sounding dynamic fingerstyle) these strings performed admirably and provided me with many of the characteristics I was looking for (higher tension, reduced finger noise, some sparkle in the top). Compared to the set of D'Addario nickels the bass had on it before it was night and day in terms of quality, the Sadowskys felt like a million bucks. I haven't had a chance to try the black label nickels yet, but I will in the next coming week, so I'll chime back in on the difference when I get a chance. A big thanks to Roger for the strings (I'm sure the next set I actually buy will be Sadowskys because of the quality and the service).
 
#69
Roger is the man!

I was reading this thread before the Holidays and just missed out on Roger’s call for “testers” of the new Blue Label strings. I wasn’t too worried as I had just purchased and received 5 sets of the Black Labels. Then I went on to read that he would be offering a free set of Blues to anyone making bulk purchases of the Blacks… for evaluation. I emailed Roger asking why I hadn’t received a set of the Blues with my recent purchase and he quickly replied that my order went through prior to the Blues being available, but that he would send me a set of the Blues. Yesterday when I arrived from work there was a package waiting for me. I open it up to find, and not only is there a set Blues, but also a set of Blacks. How cool is that?

I visited Roger’s shop in the summer of 06’ and couldn’t have been impressed. He and Kevin are the real deal! I wasn’t prepared to pull the trigger at the time (although probably should have purchased #4600 right on the spot), but I do have LPB MV5 on the way later this year.

I’ll be giving the Blues a go in the coming weeks and will post a short review and comparison with the Blacks. :bassist:

Cheers,
LR
 
#79
i've replaced the black labels with the blue labels, and holy crap!!! :eek:
I'm in love!! perfect! they do have a lot in common with the black labels. they have the warmth of nickel, nice highs, and solid lows. great full frequency strings without the brittle highs of steel. here's the kicker... as someone said before, they do just feel more substantial than the black labels, but they're lower tension. and they're awesome!
in addition: after switching to the blues, i was told by the band that we're touring with that "that's the best your bass has sounded this tour. nice growl. really filled up the room."
i still enjoy the black labels, but i'm switching over to blues!


Roger!! tell John at Bass Emporium to start stocking the Blue Labels!!


in a related note, the black labels i put on before tour still have a little life left in them, so i'm saving them.
 
#80
TrevorOfDoom said:
i've replaced the black labels with the blue labels, and holy crap!!! :eek:
I'm in love!! perfect! they do have a lot in common with the black labels. they have the warmth of nickel, nice highs, and solid lows. great full frequency strings without the brittle highs of steel. here's the kicker... as someone said before, they do just feel more substantial than the black labels, but they're lower tension. and they're awesome!
in addition: after switching to the blues, i was told by the band that we're touring with that "that's the best your bass has sounded this tour. nice growl. really filled up the room."
i still enjoy the black labels, but i'm switching over to blues!


Roger!! tell John at Bass Emporium to start stocking the Blue Labels!!


in a related note, the black labels i put on before tour still have a little life left in them, so i'm saving them.
Click to expand...

hmmm, sounds good!
 

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